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NEWS FLASH: Pons out, Atkinson loses bags of time |
Subaru World Rally Team 'third' driver, Xavier Pons has retired from leg 1 of the Rally Ireland after an accident in SS4.
Pons, who had been running eleventh overall, damaged his engine in the incident and was unable to continue.
Chris Atkinson also had problems in Lough Gill 1, which in addition to claiming Pons scalp, also took Marcus Gronholm's [see separate story].
Atkinson's incident cost him around 20 minutes and although he eventually got going again in the #2 SWRT-run Impreza WRC, it has dropped him right out of contention.
“It's very disappointing,” said the Aussie, who had been running in sixth place overall. “The accident happened at the 15km point of SS4, on a very slippery right hand bend. It was a fourth gear corner and I was going too fast, and the car under-steered straight on into a fence and a mud bank. That's about it.
“We were stuck there for a while, whilst we changed a wheel and made some repairs, but we were able to get going again and get the car back to service. The conditions out there are unreal.”
